OUR DAILY BREAD : RHYTHMS OF GRACE

[cimi]

WEDNESDAY JUNE 14


RHYTHMS OF GRACE

TODAY’S READING
Matthew 11:25-30
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Take my yoke upon
you and learn from
me, for I am gentle
and humble in
heart, and you will
find rest for your
souls. Matthew 11:29
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A friend and his wife, now in their early nineties and married for sixty-six years, wrote their family history for their children, grandchildren, and generations to come. The final chapter, “A Letter from Mom and Dad,” contains imortant life_lessons they’ve learned. One caused me to pause and take inventory of my own life: “If you find that Christianity exhausts you, draining you of your energy, then you are practicing religion rather than enjoying a relationship with Jesus Christ. Your walk with the Lord will not make you weary; it will invigorate you, restore your strength, and energize your life” (MATT. 11:28029).

Eugene Peterson’s praphrase of Jesus’s invitation in this passage begins, “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion?...Walk with me and work with me....Learn the unforced rhythms of grace” (THE MESSAGE).

When I think that serving God is all up to me, I’ve begun working for Him instead of walking with Him. There is a vital difference. If I’m not walking with Christ, my spirit becomes dry and brittle. People are annyouances, not fellow humans created in God’s image. Nothing seems right.

When I sense that I’m practicing religion instead of enjoying a relationship with Jesus, it’s time to lay the burden down and walk with Him in His “unforced rhythms of grace.” __David McCasland

**Lord Jesus, I come to You today to exchange my frenzied work
for Your pathway of grace.
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Jesus wants us to walk with Him.